


Professionals

by Origami_Roses



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: ...but not really bashing either, Gen, Science and Engineering FTW, not SHIELD friendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26463787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Origami_Roses/pseuds/Origami_Roses
Summary: A brief exploration of loose ends after the Invasion of New YorkA somewhat-longer than expected exploration of loose ends after New York... (Why does that tend to happen to my fics?)Or: JARVIS gives good advice, Tony actually follows it, and interpersonal/ interagency dynamics are much improved as a result.
Comments: 109
Kudos: 157





	1. POV-Jarvis

Sir was brooding. Not that he didn't have cause, but the lack of rambling monologue was unusual and therefore concerning. JARVIS had many years of experience helping Sir and had gotten fairly good at anticipating his needs, but even that was insufficient to figure out where Sir's thoughts were wandering as he stared out the shattered windows at a broken skyline, tumbler of scotch forgotten in his hand. 

The past 36 hours had introduced too many variables to formulate a solvable equation. He began to organize the variables to consider in an attempt to determine priority, and to determine what factors might play into the severity of each.

  1. Confirmation of hostile aliens via their attack on Earth  

    * Hostility toward Sir of team -designated Avengers - recruited to meet said attack  
Repeated prodding of Sir's old traumas and issues  
Repeated belittling of Sir  
Dismissal of Sir's concerns on multiple subjects  
Note: Designate Avenger: Bruce Banner as non-hostile  
Query: Re-designate Avenger: Bruce Banner as ally?
    * Role of luck in averting said attack  

    * Lack of preparedness for potential similar future events  

    * Lack of willingness to discuss making such preparations
  2. Confirmation of existence of magic and mind control  

    * Lack of method to analyze or block magic  

    * Lack of means to effectively prevent mind control  
Potential avenue of inquiry in ARC technology  
Lack of means to test possible solutions resulting from inquiry  

    * Existence of means to determine mind-controlled individuals  
Query: Do methods of mind control exist besides the scepter?  
Query: If other means of mind control exist, do they have similar indicators?  

    * Existence of proven means to release controlled individuals  
Query: If other means of mind control exist, do they have similar methods of release?  

  3. Confirmation of hostile Earth-bound factions  

    * Uncoordinated launch of nuclear missile on a civilian target  
Identity of authorizing entity unknown  
Probable affiliation with SHIELD, given Director's ability to warn of launch  

    * Untrustworthiness of SHIELD  
Previous and repeated hostile interactions of SHIELD personnel with Sir  
Previous threats of injury to Sir by SHIELD personnel  
Previous assaults upon Sir's person, residence and company by SHIELD personnel  
Existence of "Phase Two" within SHIELD  
Based on 'Tesseract': review existing files of H. Stark  
Further investigation of 'Phase 2' specifics recommended  
Refusal of SHIELD director to listen to Sir's account of unidentified threat beyond portal  

    * Avengers' lack of concern and attitude toward Sir  

      * Previous interactions of SHIELD personnel, now designated Avengers, with Sir  

      * Notable hostility and threats of injury to Sir by Avengers  

      * Willingness of Avengers to abandon Sir in unknown space  

      * Refusal of Avengers to listen to Sir's account of unidentified threat beyond portal  

      * Designation by Avengers of Sir as expendable  

  4. Sir's trauma and increased risk of emotional or mental breakdown  

    * Lack of reliable allies  

    * Lack of support from usually reliable allies  
Query: Consider as temporary aberration due to unforeseen circumstances?  

    * Trauma of being thrown with sufficient force to shatter heavy duty ballistic glass  

    * Trauma of fall from significant height sans suit  
Successful test of response time for self-assembling suit  
Successful test of suit assembly on moving, unposed form  
Further refinement of assembly process recommended  

    * Unexpected threat from uncoordinated launch of nuclear missile on a civilian target  

    * Trauma of entering unknown but verified hostile space through unstudied portal to dispose of said missile  

    * Lack of communication ability after entering said portal  

    * Lack of vital signs upon returning from said portal  

    * Near death falling from extreme height  
Query: Re-designate Avenger: Hulk as ally?
    * Designation by Avengers and SHIELD of Sir as expendable  

    * Willingness of Avengers and SHIELD to abandon Sir in unknown space  

    * Refusal of Avengers and SHIELD to listen to Sir's account of unidentified threat beyond portal  




JARVIS took note of points that appeared on more than one list, and found it possible to recommend a course of action to distract Sir from his brooding. Obviously, Sir should be separated from SHIELD's sphere of influence as quickly as possible, and he just as obviously needed someone to take his information seriously.

_Sir, I have successfully recovered the footage from the suit._

"That's nice J, but ultimately pointless. Nobody's listening."

_May I suggest renewing some old acquaintances rather than dealing with those who force themselves upon you at their own convenience?_

"Such as...?"

_I would recommend the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Pentagon, Sir._

"They all still hate me, J."

_They are professionals who are in charge of handling National Security issues. Given the events of the past few days, I suspect they will listen, regardless of you being the messenger. There is also the matter of that nuclear missile..._

"True." Sir sighed and took a sip of his drink. "Fine, J. Set up an appointment for me. Maybe tomorrow? Give me a bit of time to prepare. Within the next couple days, at least."

_Very good, Sir. I will prepare the data for presentation. Might I recommend you take a short nap? You have had quite the time of it recently._

"Sleep is for the weak, J. I'll sleep when I'm dead."

_I respectfully disagree, Sir, and given that you did nearly die mere hours ago, would prefer you find a different way to express that particularly ridiculous sentiment of yours._

"Ah, J... you and your sass. Love you, too. I'll lay off on the death jokes for a day, just to spare your delicate sensibilities. Still not gonna sleep, though - got too much to do. I'm glad you have my back. Thanks."

Sir's wistful tone and lack of threats regarding the DMV or Community Colleges, while an improvement over silent brooding, was concerning. Clearly further monitoring and intervention would be required.  
_For you, Sir? Always._

Sir's smile was all the reassurance he needed. For now. Sir would pull through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: added a bit in a couple places and learned more HTML to play with list formatting ^_^


	2. POV - Tony

It made no sense. He turned it around and around in his head, and it still made no sense. It had to be a people thing - they were usually illogical and non-sensical. He hated trying to decipher people. It had been three days since a portal had been opened over his home. Three days since the world had gotten confirmation that they were not alone in the universe - and that the other things out there were both hostile and tough bastards. Tony's mind hadn't shut up long enough for a decent night's sleep - never mind the nightmares that were probably waiting for when he eventually dropped off. His thoughts kept spinning too rapidly and too loudly.

SHIELD had tried to recruit him for ages - had threatened, hacked, drugged, watched and manipulated. They'd tried everything except actually asking nicely... or, well, he supposed that at least ONE of those times may have counted as asking nicely by their standards. But, still.

An alien invasion had happened - a real life, honest-to-God, end-of-the-world fight-for-survival alien invasion from space - and they'd finally gotten him in the door and cooperating. And now - now that he'd seen what lay beyond that portal, now that he was 110% on board with the **IDEA** of the Avengers Initiative, now that he could understand the justification for the whole "Phase 2" weapons thing and could _possibly_ be persuaded to help - NOW they were ignoring him.

Every time he tried to get their attention, to get them to discuss preparations for the **_NEXT SPACE ALIEN INVASION_** _(and he was really ~~sort of~~ freaking out about that)_, he didn't even get a pat on the head before being told to run along and play nicely while the adults talked. And as much as in _irked_ him to be ignored, the fact he couldn't figure out _ WHY_ their attitude toward him had changed was far more galling.

When he wasn't trying to figure out SHIELD, his thoughts kept circling back to Loki - ragdolled into the ground by the Hulk, leaving a crater in marble and concrete flooring, beaten into unconsciousness but functional - able to crawl out of his hole under his own power and make a (admittedly somewhat weak) jest. Hard to damage, much less kill. Tony was just glad the bug-alien army Loki had brought with him had been slightly easier to take down. Not that that was really saying much - they'd still been tough bastards and he was well aware that luck had played a large part in pushing them back. A "higher form of war", Thor had said... which led to dozens of other questions like: why had they never been attacked before? Earth's weakness was no defense - waiting for a target to be strong enough to fight back was never the way would-be conquerors worked, and he was pretty sure that was something that transcended species boundaries. Therefore, Earth was either far enough from the 'center' of the inhabited galaxy as to be not worth the fuel for most, or - more likely - had nothing special enough to want...till now. SHIELD messing with the Cube had somehow sent a message - not that they were ready for a fight, but that there was plunder worth the effort. Regardless of this small victory, the war was not won - despite what the media was selling. They'd been shown that they were but tiny minnows in an ocean of sharks ...and that possible allies (i.e. 'Asgard') really didn't think of them as 'allies'... more like a poor pitiful fiefdom grudgingly taken under questionable protection. And since one of the aggressors was from that same potential ally, it was even worse. They had to be ready to stand on their own - and quickly.

JARVIS' suggestion of talking to the Pentagon had been helpful. _Most_ of the upper brass had been willing to listen and take him seriously, at least. ...Most of them had also wanted him to immediately start producing weapons again. And he eventually probably would... maybe. Once certain safeguards were put in place, and certain people removed from the equation, and necessary research undertaken, and... it would be a while, to say the least. Especially since he had other projects he was willing to move forward on more immediately.

Some good had come of the meeting, at least: collection and disposal of Chitauri corpses, tech and weapons had been consolidated to make sure they were handled safely. Under the newly created Department of Damage Control, he had arranged to provide biologists and others with controlled labs to study Chitauri remains and make sure they weren't carrying any human-catchable pathogens, and to determine whether cremating the bodies would result in toxins being released. The number and size of the corpses presented their own sort of problems and, given the smell that was beginning to permeate the battlefield, body disposal had been given highest priority. The smaller bodies were easily handled, but there was ongoing debate whether it would be better to cut and cart the larger ones or come up with a way to cremate them in place - a prototype bio-targeted ARC powered self-contained crematorium was in the works for the second option. If it worked, it would simplify clean up tremendously. In the meantime, various crews were tasked with searching for survivors, identifying the dead, and clearing the streets of debris. Specialized teams had been assigned to collecting the weapons that were scattered among the rubble and taking them to a secure and well-guarded holding area. The military was supervising and coordinating all the crews. It wouldn't do for every Tom, Dick or Harry helping with clean up to collect hazardous souvenirs, after all.

Ugh... what a headache. He needed another drink.


	3. POV- Rhodey

It was good to be back in the states, despite the reason for his reassignment. After Tony had taken SI out of the weapons business, he'd understood _why_ Tony had done it - intellectually - but it had taken a while to get past his anger at the suddenness of the decision, at being blindsided by the announcement. Stupidity had happened on both their parts, and they just hadn't been as close since. At times he still wondered if their relationship would recover the easy camaraderie they'd had for decades, especially since his role as SI's liaison with the military had required less and less time and his work as War Machine had taken more and more of it. It just figured that it would take a gods-be-damned alien invasion to reverse that trend. Everything involving Tony somehow seemed to veer directly into the path of highest dramatic potential. (And he was weirdly ok with that.)

Granted, he was here in an official capacity, and supposed to be trying to talk Tony around to going back into the weapons business _(cue over-dramatized gasps of shock at the 'unexpected' plot twist)_ so they could be better prepared to kick alien butt if/ when the next invasion happened. _(and since this is 'An Episode in the Life of Tony Stark™ ', OF COURSE it it's going to be when)_ But being here as an official liaison meant he had _time_ to spend getting to know his crazy brother from another mother again, and hopefully rebuild much of what had been broken down by time apart and mutually poor communication. ...and kept secrets, and hurtful words, and reckless decisions and... _(nope. don't go down that rabbit hole again, Jim - focus on what you can change, not what you can only regret. Learn from it, make amends and move forward.)_

"Hey, Rhodey-bear. It's good to see you again." was the greeting given as he stepped out of the elevator into the bustling construction zone that had formerly been Tony's penthouse apartment. A hard hat was clapped on his head before he'd gone three steps. "You can drop your duffle in the third room on the left. That hallway was almost completely undamaged, so it's all set up for you." God help him, Tony looked and sounded awful despite the 'unflappable boss' mask he had on. Eight days had passed since the invasion, and it had clearly been even worse than he'd feared - and that was saying quite a bit, considering the whole nuke-in-a-wormhole SNAFU on top of everything else.

After dropping his duffle bag in the indicated (and comfortably appointed) room, he took a minute to change his dress shoes for the combat boots he'd packed. (Always good to have on hand when spending time with Tony, as it was impossible to predict what sort of insanity they'd end up in.) He briefly considered changing his uniform for fatigues before deciding not to bother and returning to the main room. Tony didn't greet him again, and it only took a few seconds to see why - Iron Man was hovering outside _(how the hell did he get into the suit so quickly?? I think might I need an upgrade.)_ , helping set and hold a large, unwieldy window pane in place as the renovation crew worked to properly secure it. Judging from the debris and extra-heavy-duty plastic sheeting balled in a corner, this was not the only window to have needed replacing. Footage of what had happened to shatter the penthouse windows was scarce and he'd just assumed it was yet another flying-alien-crashing-into-building scenario like much of the other damage to the city... but from here it was apparent the blast had been _outward_. What. The. Hell?

Uncertain whether he'd be any help, he snagged a bar stool and tucked himself in a corner, out of the way of the workers. It was interesting to see them working on the window - Iron Man framed by three ordinary guys in safety harnesses and four more working on the inside. The window was finished in much less time than he would have expected given the size of the pane and location. Iron Man was focusing on one of the suspended workers, who was talking and gesturing - probably going over whatever safety concerns and other issues Tony would need to be aware of. After securing the glass so it wouldn't shift as the repairs cured, the inside workers began cleaning up and the outside workers were pulled up to the roof. Iron Man landed on the walkway and the suit began to disassemble itself without the usual degree of robotic help. It was utterly fascinating. Tony noticed his interest and gave him a genuine smile which faded into something more closely resembling his press conference smile as he watched the workmen pack up to leave - done for the day. He didn't say a word beyond empty pleasantries until they were out the door. 

"Hey, Honeybear! Just gimme a sec, ok? JARVIS, run the usual scans." Tony headed to the refrigerator.

A minute later, JARVIS' calming voice filled the room. _All personnel have vacated the area, Sir, and two surveillance devices have been deactivated._

Survei... why the hell would the workmen leave sur... never mind. 'An exclusive look into the life of Tony Stark™ ' was always a sought-after commodity. And that was assuming they were just looking for tabloid fodder and not more sensitive information.

"Ok, we're clean. So... what's up in the wonderful world of War Machine?" Tony slammed the fridge shut and tossed a bottle of water at his head, grinning when he plucked it out of the air.

"Thanks. I'm pretty sure my world has been pretty boring compared to yours. I've seen the news and read the briefs, but seriously? I leave you alone for a few months and this is what I come back to? This is why we can't have nice things." He grinned at his friend. Tony just grimaced before cracking open his own water and taking a swig.

"In my defense, this mess was made literally in my defense."

"Yeah... so what the hell really happened while I've been gone?"

Tony slumped, sighing deeply. "I'm not drunk enough for that conversation Sour Patch." All traces of good humor slipped from Tony's face, replaced again by the weariness he'd glimpsed earlier. "The Glenmorangie is gone, how does a date with Queen Anne sound?"

 _(not good not good not good... )_ had Tony been drinking already this morning? He'd seemed steady enough while helping with the window...

"Ah, no thanks, I'm good."

Memories of the last time he'd seen Tony drunk while in the Iron Man suit flashed across his mind, and he deliberately pushed them away - because that had been different, Tony had been dying, and... wormhole. nuke. alien invasion... _(nope. nopenopenope not going there.)_

"You sure you don't need a drink? 'Coz _I'm_ sure you need a drink." Tony was moving around the counter, getting out tumblers and looking through his extensive liquor collection. "'I'm also sure **_I_** need a drink. If Queen Anne's not your lady of the day, how about Widow Jane? She's a bit more feisty. Pretty sure I still have a half bottle here somewhere. Or I have Gentleman Jack if you're not inclined toward entertaining a lady today." Ordinarily he'd find the innuendo-filled, rambling attempt at deflection entertaining, but this was just that hair too strained.

"Tony... Look at me." His friend - his _brother_ stilled but didn't turn around. His posture screamed the sort of exhaustion Rhodey hadn't seen since Afghanistan - too tired to put up a good front, and too beaten down to make a half decent attempt with people he wasn't on high alert around. _(well, shit.)_

"Ah, hells, Tones... C'mere" he walked over and folded his brother in all that mattered into a hug. Tony stiffened at the touch and, when he didn't let go, crumpled, tucking himself under his chin and shaking. _(yeah... this is bad. This is 'I've been repressing way too much shit and that's why my eyes are brown' type bad.)_ "Let's go sit down, yeah? We can talk later. Just grab your water and let's just go sit for a bit. I've got you."

*************

It was a good thing so very few people knew Tony's real weakness. He had an incredible tolerance for alcohol, a devastatingly high pain tolerance _(and sometimes that's a life saver and sometimes it makes him a danger to himself. Oh, Tones... sometimes I wish you didn't have quite so high a tolerance for emotional pain.)_ , and a stubborn streak a thousand miles wide. People had tried and failed to get him drunk enough to spill secrets. Torture had only resulted in the deaths of those who went after him. Blackmail didn't get much better results, other than the perpetrator usually wasn't, ya know, _dead_. It was nearly impossible to force him into something he had decided he really didn't want to do and come out on top. He was also remarkably unbribeable - he didn't really need more money, was publicly shameless and sex was its own reward in his eyes - neither bought nor sold, just enjoyed.

Freely given affectionate cuddles by someone he felt safe with, on the other hand, could get you everywhere if you were patient. Granted, it took a lot of time and effort to gain Tony's trust in the first place. _(it's a good thing he doesn't trust easily. ...and a bad thing that it comes from too much experience trusting the wrong people.)_

After an hour or so of just cuddling quietly on the couch with some utterly forgettable foreign sitcom playing for background noise, Tony began to talk quietly. Everything since that disastrous birthday party when Rhodey had flown off in War Machine spilled out. _(Oh, thank God Tony had been trying to trick me to take War Machine in the first place. the betrayal he'd have otherwise felt would have made us enemies, and I really don't want him as an enemy. Maybe our friendship isn't as badly damaged as I'd thought. Maybe I've just been more blind than I realized.)_

He'd already known parts of it - the Palladium poisoning and discovery of a new element, the various fights and confrontations that he'd either seen in the news, been briefed on or - in rare cases - been involved in, the alien invasion... it was bad, but he could deal with it. It was all the stuff he'd had no clue about that was the problem. Multiple home invasions, ambushes, attacks and threats by supposed 'friendlies'? The whole situation that culminated in Obadiah Stane's death? Everything dealing with the Avengers? _(Captain Bloody America telling them to shut down the wormhole-making machine without waiting even a full minute??? WhatTheHell??? ...actually, Captain Bloody America being alive at all... What. The. Hell?)_

Two and a half hours, a bottle of water each and innumerable hugs and tears later...

"Ok, first off, who the hell are SHIELD? I've been in the military for years, and worked with pretty much every damn intelligence agency the US either runs or cooperates with. You were the primary weapons manufacturer for the US and dealt with pretty much the same roster, minus half the foreign alphabet soup. And you're telling me the _first time_ you've heard of these guys was when they decided to _volunteer to help you cover up treason, murder, corporate espionage and whatever else because Obie - your Godfather - was a domestic terrorist_? Aaaaand this somehow didn't trip _any_ of your extensive collection of red flags?"

"SI couldn't afford the inves-"

"Calling bullshit on that, Tones. It might have been a hell of a roller coaster, bu-"

"No. Rhodey. You don't get it. I'd been missing for months - stock prices plummeted, we were in the middle of reorganizing and I was doing my damnedest to not lay off a hell of a lot of people who depend on the paycheck to feed their families - which was what Obie was pushing the Board for after locking me out. Taking another hit at that time woul-"

"I do get it, Tones. I get it. You have a lot of people who depend on you, on SI. You'd been through Hell and back, hadn't fully recovered from... all that, were stabbed in the back, betrayed yet again, _forced to defend yourself against someone you grew up trusting_ and you weren't thinking clearly. I get it. But covering all that up - that's conspiracy to commit treason, that's a federal offense, a felony. And you just handed that sort of leverage to a shady, pseudo-governmental organization."

"Pseudo?"

"I don't care how secretive they are, a legitimate intelligence agency would have avenues open for collaboration with the CIA and FBI, at least - and I _know_ you've hacked their secure servers at least once."

"... guilty as charged."

"And yet you'd never heard of them. Ok... We'll... we'll come back to that. I think you need to come clean about the Obie situation - maybe not publicly, but at least to limit their options for blackmail. We'll have to discuss the details of how and to whom some other time.  
So, getting back on track: SHIELD tried all sorts of underhanded, questionable, coercive tactics to _get_ you on their team - including the whole conspiracy thing - and they are now brushing you off every time you try to tell them you are willing to _be_ on their team because there's a whole cluster of shit heading for far too many fans still looming over our collective heads. Is that about the gist of it?"

"In a nutshell, yeah. That's why JARVIS suggested I talk to the SecDef and Pentagon. He pointed out that they are 'professionals who deal with National Security' and therefore likely to work with me even though they hate my guts. I'm pretty sure it was also a hint at SHIELD's unprofessionalism"

"They don't hate y-"

_With all due respect, Sir, SHIELD's obvious lack of professional ethics was not the only reason I concluded they are less than beneficial as allies. They also showed a distinct lack of respect for your many abilities, and failed to support you in any meaningful way. Repeatedly._

Rhodey pondered that statement. The fact that JARVIS had felt a need to join the conversation was unusual. The fact that he'd simply _interrupted_ to do so was somewhat concerning. ...and Tony wasn't making any effort to deny JARVIS' words. He'd make sure talk to JARVIS later for details. It seemed Tony had left out a lot of details. And _that_ was downright alarming, considering just how awful the multitude of details he _had_ shared were. _(focus, Jim, focus. chase that train of thought later, you were going somewhere with this one.)_

"And you're confused _why_ they're treating you this way?"

"Yeah! I mean, we worked together pretty well against the would-be alien overlord. At least I thought we did. I don't _think_ I did anything wrong - I even managed to follow some orders and prove that I _can_ play nice with others and everything. I just... I don't.... Why? Why am I never enough?" His voice broke on the last question, and Rhodey just pulled him in tighter. He'd seen this before - Tony would find someone he really wanted to impress and do everything, _anything_ , at any cost to himself. He'd seen where it led, too - drunken breakdowns, self-loathing, drug overdose, near-death experiences.

"I can tell you why, Tones. It's awful and it's sad and it honestly makes me pretty mad: it's just one more method of manipulation. You say this Director Fury guy knew Howard, right? Even had a bunch of Howard's old stuff and pulled the 'tough love because I care about you' card to justify assault and non-consensual, possibly experimental 'medical' treatment. It sounds like he knew exactly what buttons to push, Tones. Exactly how Howard would have phrased things to make you fall in line. I'd bet he also knows how hard you tried to impress the old bastard.  
"So, look, he's using that supposedly friendly history to set himself up as someone you could vicariously get Howard's approval through. He's set you up to _want_ his - and by extension SHIELD's - approval and now that you've latched on to that hope, they're letting you work yourself into a ragged, panting mess, begging them to pay attention to you. It's a fucking mind game. They're trying to get you so desperate for any acknowledgment you'll be firmly hooked on their line.  
"But now that you're reaching out to someone else, and getting other people to pay attention, I'd bet it won't be long before they oh so 'generously' deign to finally listen to you. And then they'll give you a pat on the head and a list of demands. It's just a bigger version of what that slut-who-shall-not-be-named put you through at MIT- and you can bet they'll use you just as badly, and probably throw you away in the end like she did, too."

Tony went completely still, and Rhodey just held him closer. _(c'mon, Tones... you're smart, so smart. you've been down this path. remember? you know where this will lead. dangling the promise of love and respect just out of your reach? stolen access codes and designs? sabotaged research data? being accused of plagiarism and theft because you were played by someone who gave you the attention you craved in order to use you? betrayal and blame that had you twisted in knots and almost suicidal? ring a bell? c'mon. you're not that naïve little teenager anymore. the parallels are So. Damn. Obvious. just open your eyes and see them.)_

"... I knew I wasn't drunk enough for this conversation."

"Fine. You were right. Drinks are needed. Gentleman Jack sounds like good company; go ahead and invite him over."

"Aw, Rhodey-Bear!" The sloppy wet smack against his cheek made him roll his eyes in fond exasperation as Tony whisked himself back to the bar.


	4. POV - JARVIS

It was gratifying to see the results of encouraging Sir to reach out to his former military contacts. They had gotten Sir focused on what could be done now rather than the round of self-recriminations he'd been in before. SI's Research and Development division had gotten actively involved in the search for solutions, and the increased contact with people Sir knew and respected - who respected him in return - had only improved Sir's mood and energy levels. The presence of Colonel Rhodes - another benefit of the military contact - had marked a definite turn for the better in Sir's wellbeing as the man could persuade Sir to eat and rest where JARVIS could not.  
The general public was pulling together and Sir's contributions to their safety were well known. Videos of Iron Man fighting aliens to protect their homes and families were among the most viewed, SI's Public Relations team was making good use of that and the clean up efforts to polish Sir's and SI's image. With the Maria Stark Foundation stepping in to help with temporary housing for the thousands of people affected, Sir's standing in the world at large was better than it had ever been, and JARVIS made sure to include a selected few comments from various blogs and social media accounts in Sir's daily debrief. Sir deserved to hear expressions of gratitude and encouragement from more than just his close circle of friends, and his mood seemed to improve as a result, even after a hard day. 

On that front, JARVIS was content.

Sir's current ventures were going well - the portable crematorium was on its fourth iteration, and the latest field test indicated this one should be adequate for in situ disposal of the massive Chitauri carcasses the ground crews had not yet been able to deal with. A great deal of data had been gathered in testing the previous three iterations - most importantly that the weapons the foot soldiers had carried reacted very _very_ badly to the cremation process. Extra precautions were taken to ensure they were all collected and the area double- and triple-checked before erecting the parabolic geodesic frame that housed and supported the ARC array used to partially dehydrate the massive corpses prior to incineration. It took nearly a full day per leviathan, including setting up the frame, array, vacuum system and heat proof shroud, but it worked. There were ongoing attempts to decrease the time and fine tune things so only the organic material was incinerated, leaving armor and weapons untouched among the ashes, but that particular hurdle had not yet been cleared. And truly, it did not need to be. The current solution was sufficient, and Sir had enough other problems upon which to focus his perfectionist tendencies that 'sufficient' would suffice.  
The various biologists - _xeno_ biologists, he supposed the technically correct term would be - had ascertained that the probability of alien bacteria causing problems was no higher than any other form of zoonoses, but the sheer volume of currently-decaying alien in the midst of a highly populated area significantly raised the probability of an outbreak occurring. Fortunately, standard decontamination procedures had been proven effective. Here again, the footsoldiers' weapons had proved somewhat problematic as irradiation tended to overload the power sources, rendering it impractical as a decontamination method. A lab-standard bleach solution and stringent transportation and storage protocols were deemed sufficient for the time being. Further testing required on alternate methods. To minimize exposure, the erstwhile battlefield remained fully evacuated and off-limits to all but authorized clean-up squads. 

On this front, also, JARVIS was content. 

Regardless of the notable improvement in the professional, public and technical aspects of Sir's life, JARVIS had one, glaring, spot of discontent: SHIELD.

As Colonel Rhodes had predicted, SHIELD had been trying to get in touch with Sir. Most fortuitously, Sir was quite busy, and JARVIS felt quite justified in sending their calls to voicemail. Sir was, of course, informed of the calls, but _somehow_ never received the actual messages. Sir was also informed of the repeated attempts at hacking into SI's networks. Sir had insisted upon skimping on his sleep to refine and upgrade JARVIS' security protocols and firewalls after the first attempt. Though JARVIS greatly appreciated the care and concern Sir showed, he was also vexed at Sir's tendency to put his own well-being last. He would never refuse the upgrades, of course, but SHIELD's insistent underhandedness and disregard for Sir's choices was, in his opinion, yet one more reason to keep Sir as far out of SHIELD's influence as possible.  
Sir was not much inclined to give SHIELD priority at the moment. They had had their chance at being his preferred contact and had squandered it. They would undoubtedly continue to try to get to Sir, and Sir had discussed how to deal with their probable attempts to catch him in person with both Colonel Rhodes and SI's Legal department. There was little JARVIS could do on that end, but monitoring Sir's health and surroundings and screening Sir's calls would do for now. With Sir's approval, JARVIS was also passively monitoring SHIELD's internal chatter. At the least, he may be able to give Sir advance warning. It was a temporary measure, but every day spent strengthening relationships with other, _better_ allies could only be for Sir's benefit.

Overall, Jarvis was content.


	5. POV - Tony

Tony had never been so free - so _happy_ \- in his work. Unlike his childhood, there was no Howard looming in the background with a ready glare and stern disapproval. No professors or administrators insisting on restrictions to his scope of work or excessive documentation in the ridiculously stilted formats peculiar to academia as he'd had to deal with at MIT. No Stane working behind the scenes to turn the Board against him and insist on ever-more-destructive weapons instead of smarter technologies. No terrorists lurking in the shadows, waiting to put a gun to his head or drag him off to a torture session. No poison clogging his veins and fogging his mind. No mad scramble to find what others had taken from him, to reclaim or neutralize it before innocents were harmed by his legacy. Yes, he was busier than he'd been in years (and that was saying something) working to clean up a terrible mess of a tragedy, but _it wan't a tragedy of his making_. Humanity had faced disaster and come out with remarkably few scars, and his mind spun freely as he took the first steps forward in this new, uncharted, territory, excited and unburdened for the first time in ~~years~~ decades.

In the mere two weeks since the invasion, SI's R&D division had found a new breath of life (okay, more like new areas of expertise to obsess over in the usual games of competitive collaboration.), and he'd reconnected with people he'd hardly talked with in years - both within and without SI. 

Stepping into the R&D departments secure labs was ... nostalgic. He'd been SI's Head of R&D since before handing the position of CEO to Pepper. Sure, he'd done that because he'd been dying at the time, but he'd also nursed the hope of spending more time with his favorite branch before exiting the stage. And somehow, it had never happened. The search for a cure to Palladium poisoning had been as private as the fact he was dying from it, and he'd hidden away. He'd checked in at monthly meetings, and had been available through email when someone needed his expertise, but in the time he'd been missing in Afghanistan and afterward, they'd ... gotten used to not having him around. He'd neglected them. So the chorus of "Dr. Stark! It's good to see you!" he was greeted with was unexpected, and appreciated. Every. Single. Time.

He had also made some new friends - Bruce Banner had been pulled onto one of the teams of biologists, now protecting mankind with the awesome powers of his super brain as they worked to determine Chitauri weaknesses and ensure that effective processes for destroying alien microbes that had hitched a ride to Earth were found, documented and dispersed. Earth-origin superbugs like MRSA and COVID were bad enough; no one wanted the Loki version of a bacteria trying its ~~hand~~ _pseudopod_ at conquering the world. (The jokes infecting the research labs were already sufficiently terrible, thank you very much! Some had even gone viral. It was sickening.)

Though he wasn't directly involved with much of the bio-research, he had been given full access to DODC scans and logs on Chitauri biology and weapons, and had teams of researchers and scientists across dozens of specialties to geek out with. It was _AWESOME_ , and the cross-discipline collaborations were legendary - if only for the friendly rivalries turned drinking games. 

The current top dogs in the one-upmanship games were the team of forensic biologists that had discovered Chitauri were weak against moderate to strong electrical currents - whatever their nervous systems used as signal carriers was significantly different from human biology. That single, remarkable discovery had pushed the engineering teams into a better design for body disposal units (and sparked fierce debate as to whether that weakness was a major factor in Thor's body count and ability to largely block the portal entrance single-handedly) and was still producing ripples in the research of practically every team. There was hope that it would also result in a safer way to dispose of the crazy weapons they were gathering far too many of. 

And that was only one, little, detail. There were dozens of others, many with similarly far-reaching impacts, not all of which were helpful. Case in point: a relatively high concentration of cobalt and beryllium in the natural armor plating on the leviathans was causing problems with disposal of the cremated remains, which was what the meeting he was headed into had to deal with - significantly redesigning the crematorium shroud to seal tightly and allow for vacuum removal of the resulting gases and ash directly into hazmat containers. Tony could say (from sad experience) that heavy metal poisoning was a bitch... apparently light-metal poisoning was nearly as bad in its own way. 

Once this particular issue was sorted, though, he was going to put a team onto studying that armor with intent to produce bullets that would actually be effective against the stuff. (and maybe, possibly incorporate that extra level of toughness into his own armor ... assuming the stable isotopic compounds could be re-created in Earth-normal conditions.) And (hopefully!!) being able to do damage to big bug aliens would translate to being able to do damage to pseudo-gods as well, just in case a new 'Loki' showed up.

************

Once the meeting was over and the assigned team was busy going over data simulations on the new shroud designs, Tony spent some time reviewing the ongoing projects of other teams, discussing new ideas, and answering questions. He relished this reminder that just because he was usually the _smartest_ in the room he wasn't the _only_ smart person in the room, and enjoyed the time to connect with all the intelligent and crazy people SI's legendary labs attracted. 

He wasn't surprised when one of the youngest researchers on staff came up to ask about future projects. June Moriarty was, in some ways, much like himself, having graduated MIT while still a teen. Unlike him, she had always been interested in - practically lived for - demolition and explosives. She was severely underestimated by nearly everyone, standing merely 5'2", a pert blonde who loved glitz and glitter as much as making things go boom. (He still remembered the delighted, manic grin she sported on her first missile test... while dressed in a manner suited to a sparkly rainbow princess under her lab coat. It was utterly terrifying,) When SI had gone out of the weapons business, he'd been surprised not to lose her, but hadn't questioned it. She'd eventually ended up in Materials Design division of R&D, specializing in stress testing. He'd heard _rumors_ of the tests she tried to get approved for their military armors. So he wasn't at all surprised when she expressed interest in studying the Chitauri weapons "to find safe ways to decommission them", nor when she hinted that new types of weapons based on the Chitauri energy guns could be useful in the case of a future invasion. 

He _was_ mildly surprised at the sheaf of sketches and rough calculations she showed him _(note to self: ask JARVIS how she got most of the highly classified data these calcs are obviously based on)_ , including notes on locking the weapons against unauthorized use, and at the fact that at least half the department seemed to have gotten on board with the idea, despite most of them having come on board after SI's weapons divisions were mothballed. It was clear that they wanted to both ensure their world's future safety, and were doing their very best to respect his past history and reluctance to make weapons at all. Looking at all the work that had been put in - on top of all the official work they were already doing - Tony couldn't help but be impressed. He'd been half-resigned to getting involved in the weapons business again, at least on a small scale, and now he felt almost hopeful that it could be done in a controlled, well-thought out way.

He was very surprised to realize he'd gotten lost in his head over June's notes when she snapped her fingers in his face.

"Dr. Stark! Earth to Dr. Stark!" 

"C'mon, June-bug, we've already covered this today: No need to call me 'Doctor". 

"Okay, Boss." she said with a grin that was echoed by everyone nearby. 

He rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what line she wanted and obliging with a smirk and bad mafia-Italian accent. "...And don't call me Boss." 

"Right, Boss." 

"Gah!!" He threw his hands dramatically in the air as snickers erupted around the room before joining in on the laughter. He knew exactly what movie was going to be in the line up for the party they were undoubtedly planning for when the clean up was done. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> June Moriarty was borrowed !with permission! from [ Wiki-How Doesn't Tell You How to Save the World](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25463320) by SilverTonguedSlytherin1. (It's a great story - highly recommend!) I hope I do the character justice. She's fun!
> 
> The movie referenced is 'Oscar'. It has a permanent place on my personal Top 10 list. 99% of the movie is one crazy whirlwind of a day where Murphy's Law rules supreme. It is ridiculous, hilarious, and I highly recommend it, too.


	6. POV - Moriarty

June was ecstatic. They were back to dealing with weapons - albeit for safe disposal, but still! It was sparkly new explosive tech to dive into, and her childhood idol was going to be personally involved! He'd even looked over her sketches and ideas and _hadn't dismissed them_!!

Explosives had been her dream job ever since her crazy uncle had let her accompany him on one of his side jobs - to remove the concrete footings of an old pier that had become a hazard. He'd explained why the charges were placed just so, how they were wired and why that was the best method in the wet environment and - best of all - let her flip the little tiny switch that sparked the tremendously large **BOOM!!** that caused the very air to tremble as the pier had mostly crumbled beneath the lapping waves of the lake and a light rain of debris pattered across her borrowed hardhat. 

She'd been hooked. Totally and completely. Her uncle had sponsored her, helped her get all the safety training available (officially or not) and let her shadow him on many of his jobs. By the time she was 14 and in college, she'd been certified to work under supervision and he'd let her prepare and set up the charges herself, just asking how she planned to set them beforehand and double checking them before detonation. The money from those jobs helped cover her tuition. _(Fun + educational + get paid + get college work credits + time with favorite uncle = Score!!)_

When she turned 16, he'd encouraged her to apply for the job at SI, and written a letter of recommendation when she did. She'd loved working here from that first summer internship her junior year of college. _(Dream job the first year she could be legally employed! Go Juney!!)_. It was a wonderful balance of controlled chaos and purposeful focus. And she got to blow things up! And, even better, design things that blew up even bigger better and louder. And everyone around her was just as enthusiastic and encouraging as she's ever dreamed. These were definitely her kind of people!

SI's move away from weapons design had been a punch in the gut. She'd never given much thought to the fact that her designs were blowing up people instead of rotting, dangerous infrastructure. She _knew_ , of course, and she understood why Dr. Stark needed to make some changes when he learned it wasn't just _bad_ people they were blowing up. She didn't think completely stopping weapons production was the best way to improve the situation, though, and had given serious thought to leaving SI - had even put out applications to other military contractors. She'd gotten one interview... with Hammer Tech. The condescension they'd shown her for being a female explosives expert had only emphasized how good she had it at SI where she could wear pretty clothes and still be respected for her intelligence and designs. She'd gone straight to SI's Human Resources director to discuss her options if she stayed. 

Best. Decision. Ever. 

SI was still making body armor for the military. Body armor that required rigorous testing. And she got to help design the tests. It wasn't quite as exciting as maximizing the explosive output of a warhead while simultaneously simplifying the internal wiring and improving safety, but still very satisfyingly filled with explosions and destruction. R&D had even managed to keep one of SI's missile testing facilities available to run some of the crazier tests. _(...and if she had just happened to design some fun new toys to run those tests... well, that's how progress goes, right?)_ If SI was going to make armor, they were damn sure going to make armor that would stand up to just about anything - including close range shrapnel from SI-quality bombs. _(so there. pbbbt.)_ Trackers were also now standard so armor could be recovered and attacks discovered faster. _(If only they'd done that earlier. Such precautions could have saved Dr. Stark a lot of pain and trauma.)_ There had been rumors of salvaged armor being used to track down the terrorist cells using it, too, and apparently pinging several armors where they shouldn't have been had given some convoy or another a heads-up on an ambush. _(Bonus!)_

Then New York was attacked by alien Space Whales with aerial jetskis, and they now had a _whole new range of freaky-awesome explosive shiny toys to experiment with!_ ... for the purpose of armor testing. Obviously. (for now.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> June Moriarty was borrowed (with permission) from [ Wiki-How Doesn't Tell You How to Save the World](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25463320) by SilverTonguedSlytherin1, and parts of her backstory based on [ Rocknocker ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Rocknocker/) (on reddit - he has awesome stories of explosive destruction)


	7. POV- Fury

The plan had been to let Stark stew for a week or two, then come in with an offer of continuing with the Avengers as a consultant and backer. Romanoff had been absolutely certain after the battle that he'd leap at the chance - hungry eyes behind the fear, she'd said.

The plan had failed. Utterly and completely. Somehow it had taken a mere three days for things to change, and _not knowing why_ was eating at him.

When Fury had been notified that Stark had been in a meeting at the Pentagon, he hadn't been concerned - he figured the military was in a panic and trying to get Stark to produce weapons for them again. Or make more suits like War Machine. Or something. His usual informant hadn't been in that particular meeting, but the generally tense atmosphere and tightly-leashed fear had been enough to infer that some of the higher-ups were grasping at straws in the ongoing chaos as recovery efforts got underway.

So Fury hadn't been worried. Troubled military advisors were a minor detail that could be worked with. Nothing that would derail the plan.

Or so he'd thought. When Stark spent the following two days in multiple meetings with top brass from every branch of the military and the Secretary of Defense, _and_ the President... he'd started to be concerned and had put more agents on getting information. 

It wasn't hard - the formation of the Department of Damage Control was public knowledge, as was the strict condoning off of the entirety of the war zone. And the existence of various teams overseeing all aspects of the clean up. And the tight security surrounding all materials of alien origin. (And it made getting samples for SHIELD's scientists to study damn difficult.) 

At the very least, SHIELD should have been involved in the clean up, but efforts to involve agents in any of the decision making or supervisory teams had failed, and the grunt teams were closely monitored for health risks as well as security. 

And now getting anywhere near Stark was proving equally frustrating. The man was always out and about, but irritatingly never isolated enough to initiate contact and control the situation. Granted, he was busy with at least a dozen projects in the clean up, and they were jobs that needed to be done... but Fury wanted that dedication and energy at his beck and call. Stark and his many resources would be great assets in SHIELD's hands, and they'd make much better use of them. 

He'd played his hand carefully and well. He _knew_ he'd had Stark hooked on his line. So _why_ Stark was refusing any contact? Things had been going swimmingly for getting Stark fully on board and invested in SHIELD when, for some reason the infuriating man had decided to swallow his pride and go make nice with the military again. It went against everything their top psychologists had predicted, and as thoroughly as he'd burned those bridges should have been impossible to pull together as quickly and smoothly as he had. Sure, the invasion had the armed forces of several countries riled up and wary, but it had been dealt with swiftly and with the collateral damage limited to a relatively small area, those hidebound generals had been pegged as unlikely to make nice with Stark - who was seen as little better than a traitor by many of them - as Stark was to approach them. 

*************

It had taken a solid two weeks of effort to finally arrange a short talk with Stark. And _SHORT_ was definitely the operative word.

In the meantime, they'd stopped making any real progress getting more information than was readily available to the public. From SI, at least. Various agents in the military had gotten most, if not all, the information from those groups - the data from most of the scientific teams was not quite as complete, but still significant. SI, though... had become a cipher, practically overnight. All their attempts at extracting information had failed, the bugs and backdoors Romanoff had opened during her short tenure there had been blocked off or produced nothing but garbage. It was beyond irritating. 

He had hoped the meeting would get a foot back in the door, but - true to form when dealing with Stark lately - things hadn't gone as predicted. 

In the first place, they weren't meeting in a secure room, but in the middle of the warzone where Stark was supervising the set up and first official run of whatever newly-innovated contraption he'd come up with for one of the last leviathan carcasses, awkwardly half-embedded several floors up across at least three former office buildings, and stinking. They were standing well separated from the scientists and workers as the scaffolding for the immense framework was bolted together and Stark's close attention on the project was not immediately needed. No one could hear them over the noise, anyway, but they could be watched and Fury was certain they would be, which left open intimidation tactics off the table. The time constraints and noise left subtlety and negotiation hamstrung as well. He'd worked with worse, of course, but that didn't make him happy about it.

"So, Nicky, you've finally got me all to your little piratey self for about 15 to 20 minutes. I'm assuming you had an agenda beyond glowering so c'mon, chop chop. I'm a busy man and do have several other things I could be doing right now." 

Fury grimaced. Straight to the point it was, then. "You may remember we discussed the possibility of accepting you into the Avengers as a consultant. We've finished reviewing the footage and documentation and have decided to formally offer you that position. We think you could be a good addition in support of the team." 

Stark gaped at him briefly before laughing. "Yeah... Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll have to decline, Patch. I'm plenty busy right now with enough on my plate that I don't need you handing me another plate to pile more on. But tell you what, if you return _everything_ SHIELD took of Howard's - every box of junk, every notebook, every old obsolete floppy disk, every loose sketch and dirty napkin. You do that and I'll consider your offer in the future when things have cooled off. Sound good?" 

Fury quickly recovered from his surprise. Stark shouldn't have known. "What the hell are you talking about Stark?" 

The man in question paused, his attention momentarily taken by something going on the with the frame rising behind them before answering. "Well, I went looking for a couple notebooks I have definite memories of from Howard's old workroom and couldn't find them anywhere. There were a lot of other little things missing as well. It occurred to me that it's rather odd that you would have a box of very personal tapes and journals of his, and it's only reasonable to assume you have more... and that you've found them interesting and useful enough to keep in your own hands. So I want them back. All of them. Everything." 

"Even if I had anything like that, they'd be worthless to you, considering you're out of the weapons business." 

"Ah, so you do know what's in them. And you took them long before I made that call, didn't you, Nicky? And don't try to say Howard gave them to you, either." he added as Fury opened his mouth. "If you're determined to be a lying liar who lies, at least try to keep your lies plausible. You can return them all willingly and I let this slide and consider occasionally helping out with your little boy band in the future, or I can start the process of taking legal action against you for theft, corporate espionage, and probably a host of other things as your lies come to light." 

"You really don't want to get in a pissing contest with me, Stark." 

"True. I'd rather not. I'm busy enough without that, but I will if you push me. Which is why I recommend you return my stuff willingly. Consider it a genuine display of the goodwill you've only been pretending at so far. You have till the end of the week to start delivering boxes.  
"As for the Avengers Initiative, here's my emergency contact, you can let me know next time the shit hits the fan in an end of the world situation. Until you make good on the delivery, though, don't bother calling me again for anything less." His phone pinged and he glanced at it. "Welp, time's up. Toodles, Patches, gotta run!" He really could have skipped fluttering his eyelashes and blowing a kiss as he hurried off. 

************

Three days later, Fury was grinding his teeth. There had been inquiries into the nuclear missile launch and it had been traced back to SHIELD and from there to the WSC. He was now under pressure to reveal the identities of the WSC members. He was still a bit pissed at that whole mess himself, though, and cooperated. Somewhat. Not that he was willing to give much besides those names. The investigation soon moved on and he thought that was the end of it.

By the beginning of the next week, they were back. The investigators had _somehow_ (he'd bet it began with a 'Tony' and ended with a 'Stark') gotten information on Phase 2 and other top-secret SHIELD projects as well. It was disconcerting to be asked questions about projects he, himself, had no knowledge of, and he'd begun to question the habit SHIELD had of siloing information. As Director, he was supposed to be at the top, privy to everything - at least its existence if not the details - but it quickly became clear that there were multiple silos he knew nothing about and more than one level of 'at the top'. And he really wasn't liking what he was finding out as he quietly dug into the secrets of SHIELD's parallel branches.

That, combined with the loss of Stark as a consultant, had Fury in a perpetually foul mood. He could barely remember why he'd decided not shipping a couple boxes was a good idea. _(oh, right: plausible deniability. 'don't admit anything' ...including that he's no longer entirely sure where some of Howard's old stuff ended up.)_ He'd been half convinced Stark would never follow through. _(Why had he thought that, again?)_ It was beginning to look like he might have slit his own throat... damn it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This last bit about SHIELD's internal structuring is partly based on Agents of Shield - I haven't watched all of it, and probably never will. 9_9  
> It also reflects the fact that HYDRA definitely had its own parallel teams and hierarchy and support groups within SHIELD. (Dear Nicky is going to be so surprised, don't you think?)


	8. POV-Tony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The time frame of the next few chapters overlaps with the last one.

Tony ran a hand through his hair. He was so tired. Things were going well, but the last week had just been ... busy. The various projects he was overseeing were mostly safe in the hands of qualified teams of professionals, but there were so many of them, and they all required _meetings. (Ugh. the bane of his existence. seriously.)_ The meetings with the technical teams weren't so bad - everyone was eager to get back to the fun stuff, and Pepper was graciously handling almost all of SI's meetings. She was even ok with letting him video call in for just a few minutes when his presence was actually necessary. It was the meetings with the military and _(ugh) bureaucrats_ that he wished weren't on his plate. The irritating, self-satisfied idiots seemed convinced that long, boring meetings in which nothing was actually done somehow justified their existence and made them _important_. At least he could delegate half the military meetings to Rhodey. Unfortunately, the half he couldn't delegate tended to involve either the bean-counters or hard-nosed jackasses who didn't think 'no' applied to them and considered 'compromise' a dirty word. 

Adding to his exhaustion, JARVIS had let him know of increasing pressure from SHIELD, shown in the number of phone calls, emails and attempts at hacking by said agency. JARVIS' more passive monitoring had indications of more forceful attempts being planned, and it was clear that he'd _have to_ deal with them sooner or later. Rhodey had suggested arranging a meeting in the open, where he was obviously busy, had a job to get back to, and could have several people on hand to rescue him if needed. It wasn't a bad idea, but... he really wanted to put it off as long as possible.

Fortunately, he was so legitimately busy that JARVIS had been able to block out a three-day break by telling everyone he already had meetings with someone else. He just had to survive the next two days' hectic schedule.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he was leaving his last meeting with the military, a SHIELD agent he vaguely recognized - Hill? that seemed like the right name - accosted Tony. Stepping around her initial attempt to block his path, he continued toward the entrance where Happy would be meeting him. She fell into step beside him. "Mr. Stark, we've been trying to get ahold of you."

Tony drifted to one side to put some more space between them. He really didn't need this right now. The meeting had been stressful enough - they were wanting weapons _(big surprise there)_ so he was already feeling a bit tense, and he didn't trust anyone from SHIELD any more. The slight motion of a security camera following them _(Thanks JARVIS!!)_ was only marginally comforting. "Sorry... I'm rather busy."

"This is important, Stark!" The agent made an aborted move to grasp his arm as he dodged and ...yeah, his comfort level just dropped from 'wary' to 'twitchy', and he was definitely looking into self-defense options on his break. _(Maybe a tricked out watch, or taser-ring, or ... something that let him bring a suit along? An invisible suit. Could he make an invisible suit? Being invisible would be awesome. And so useful. He was making an invisible suit.)_

"Uh-huh. Well, guess what? It was also important several days ago when _I_ was calling _you_ , but somehow neither you, nor your boss, nor any of your hundreds of agents were available for a meeting. I'm just one guy - no interchangeable peons at my beck and call, so I'm sure you can understand that I. Am. Booked.  
"But hey, maybe if you ask really nicely, the Joint Chiefs of Staff will let you tag along on our next meeting - that way you're not wasting my already over-booked time." He sped up just slightly as they approached the door, already done with the conversation.

"SHIELD deals with things the Joint Chiefs of Staff are not involved with, and -" _(Oh, thank Tesla!, his car was already waiting and Happy had the door open for him to slide in.)_

"Well I'm booked, so tough beans. Deal without me." _(Most satisfying door-slam in his life!)_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inevitably, he found himself relaxing in the chaos of his R&D department. It was nice. The soothing chaos of happily busy people that willingly let him jump from project to cutting-edge project and conversation to irreverent conversation was the perfect balm after the days of stodgy, stuffy, stilted discussions of bureaucratic minutiae and political posturing. _(seriously, why was his participation deemed necessary in those meetings?)_

Equally inevitably, the subject of weapons production was brought up. JARVIS had warned him of the probability, and he understood. Really, he did. A late night discussion with the Materials Testing Design team over pizza helped put things in perspective, and it helped that he knew he had a team of people behind him, sympathetic to his point of view and willing to help find a compromise between principles and necessity.

They were all tired. Upgrading the heat resistance of the hazmat suits for the teams in charge the cremation process had been necessary with the new processes in place to capture the resulting gases without venting them to the atmosphere, and it had been harder than expected. They were pretty sure they had a solution; practical tests were set for the next day and they were enjoying a short break for dinner before they all crashed. The conversation jumped around as it tends to when people are too tired to focus or care about awkwardness.

"Boss, why did you shut down the weapons division? I mean, I know what you've said, and I get it. There was some serious shit going on that needed to be cleaned out. But I know the stats. SI weapons had a .003% misfire rate, compared to .02% average for the industry - that's nearly 10x better. Missile failure rate was harder to compare - less data in general and more expensive tests, but problems in transport and loading were less than half as likely with SI missiles. The military didn't stop buying just because SI stopped making, they just had to settle for poorer quality which made it more dangerous for soldiers using them." Jackson, one of the senior researchers, asked.

"Not nearly as dangerous as for the guys on the other side of the gun, of course." Douglas, their Materials Engineer, added quickly as Tony flinched and almost choked. "And we totally understand that you needed more control over who manned the trigger - that's why you became Iron Man, after all."

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Obviously. That's not what I asked. The Iron Man suit carries tons of weapons, so it's not the actual production of weapons that's the issue, per se. It's who would be using them. So I'm just curious why the division was completely shut down - no questions, no attempts to improve, no recourse. I mean, we've all seen that massive stack of ideas you cart around, June - hell, most of us have had our brains picked over at least one of them. You have pages upon pages devoted to trigger lock designs, biometric confirmation, target lock controls and God alone knows what else - _all intended to limit or monitor who can use them_. Obviously there are plenty of options besides total shutdown to look at."

One of the others snickered. "Yeah, Juney. At this point, your safety devices probably rate their own Tome of Doom. It would make a nice companion piece to your plethora of designs for extreme testing of failure modes in every possible combination."

June Moriarty blushed almost as pink as the flowers on her headband. "Lay off, Pip. Stress testing is great stress relief. And designing those tests is fun. ...and I'll have you know that the Manual of Saving Your Ass is volume _three_. The Tome of Doom is what would endanger it in the first place. It is an entirely separate volume from the Guide to Socially Acceptable Destruction, I assure you." She stuck her nose in the air with a disdainful sniff and mock-pouted as her colleagues erupted in laughter.

"Oh. My. God." Pip - Phillip, data analyst and statistician - wheezed. "You've actually named them that? That's _awesome_."

June grinned. "Well, I started using some of the concepts and ideas in the Cyberpunk campaign I run, so _of course_ I needed official titles to refer to."

"No way!"

"You GM?"

"Cyber-what you what?"

"When and where and is Dos Equis an acceptable bribe to join?"

"I have no clue what half of you just said."

"Da~~mn, girl. You being you, I'm almost afraid to ask for details."

"Yes, way! Temporarily suspended due to ongoing chaos, but, yes, I do. Cyberpunk - it's a dystopian fantasy game. I will have to let you know once we start back up, and yes, it is. I'll explain in more detail later. And you _should_ be afraid. Be very afraid." The narrow-eyed glare she flashed was almost scarier for being so very at odds with her sparkly pink sweater and the little smile she sported.

Tony let the laughter and banter wash over him, grateful the conversation had moved on, but left with plenty to think about. He'd ask Rhodey about Jackson's comments later. It seemed that once again trying to do the right thing had been the wrong thing to do. Damn it, why was that the story of his life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stats Jackson gives for bullet misfires are real (well, not that SI was the manufacturer, obviously) with the best reported misfire rate at 0.0015% and average between 0.02 and 0.03%. I couldn't find stats on missile failures, but a friend of mine (ex-military) once commented that there are LOTS of safety regulations for loading fighter jets' weapons, and they're there for very good reasons, so...


	9. POV- JARVIS

Managing Sir's schedule had become a complex affair, for all that Sir was much more willing to follow it. JARVIS was beginning to consider that he might need a few extra servers to store all the data and his analysis of it. His processing power was sufficient, for now. But the thought had occurred to him that it just might be possible to max out his capacity. It was a disturbing notion, and one he would need to analyze more fully. Later. Right now there was still much to be done.

Too much, actually, for Sir's continued well-being. Even with so many others involved, Sir's drive to help had him severely overworked. JARVIS decided a mini-vacation was in order and arranged Sir's schedule accordingly. Sir would balk at completely relaxing, but JARVIS could at least give him a few days where he was beholden to no one's agenda but his own. 

After Sir had all but collapsed in bed - not even bothering to undress - JARVIS compiled the footage of SHIELD's latest attempt on Sir and added it to the ever-growing file of evidence against them, dealt with several minor tasks that had gotten backlogged during the day, ran a tower-wide sweep for bugs and tracers, checked his own systems for unauthorized changes (and added them to the evidence file as well), revisited the list he'd made just after the invasion and noted three items he felt they now had enough data to begin moving forward on, and began a new list: 

Assets for Developing Means of Countering Hostile Forces:

  1. immediate access to leading minds in 89 areas of specialization, with 247 subspecialties
  2. control of a major manufacturing and distribution network 
  3. subsidiary networks in 27 major cities around the world 
  4. experienced Legal, Public Relations, Analysis, and Management teams on call
  5. renewed collaborative accesses with all branches of the US military, four domestic intelligence agencies, eight international agencies, and 37 local law enforcement offices 
  6. a team of dedicated researchers willing to both follow Sir's lead and push him in new directions



After brief consideration, JARVIS added

  1. the world's only true AI



to the list. He was perfectly willing to count himself among Sir's assets, particularly as he'd already included dozens of humans on the list.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Of course_ Sir had chosen to embrace the chaos of his R&D department as a means of relaxing the first day of his break. But had he not been spending until far-too-late at night with his team in R&D, he'd likely have done the same in his private lab anyway. Though he was technically still working, Sir's preferred methods of relaxation had never been passive. At least being with the group ensured Sir was joking and interacting instead of working feverishly, caught within his own mind. That he was also cajoled into having lunch and dinner and didn't actually spend the entire night working was another significant benefit. _(Therefore, JARVIS would refrain from airing his complaints. Mostly.)_

And at least no one _there_ would physically assault him or try to force him into hasty decisions. _(One more reason JARVIS would do his best to keep SHIELD at arms length. Or farther. ...come to think of it, there were a few military advisors to begin sidelining as well...)_

Inevitably, the subject of resuming weapons production had been brought up. As much as he hated seeing Sir distressed, JARVIS understood the need to plan ahead far better than many humans, having come far too close to losing Sir far too many times. Weapons could be a risky proposition - as proven in Afghanistan. On the other hand, lack of effective weapons would be even moreso - as the Chitauri attack proved. The careful prodding and hinting by several of the military liaisons Sir worked with had already been deflected several times with more immediately vital projects, but the subject would have to be addressed sooner than later. Preferably in such a way as to cut SHIELD out of most of the discussion. And preferably in a way that did not cause Sir's currently improving mental health to backslide. At present, most were willing to let the discussion be temporarily set aside, giving Sir time to consider the matter logically instead of emotionally. Fortunately, Sir's reintegration with SI's R&D team was already smoothing the way for that discussion. Though Sir had been uncomfortable when the topic was broached over pizza, it had not spiraled, and several members of his team had helped to deflect attention in such a way that the legitimate concerns were not diminished, and possible avenues of compromise were highlighted. Clearly such measures would be necessary for Earth to fend off future attacks by hostile aliens, and JARVIS would facilitate it as much as possible. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Given Sir's late night, JARVIS chose to distract him the second day of vacation before he could head back down to R&D. He waited until Sir was on his second cup of coffee before broaching the subject. There would never be a perfect time, but this was a ... not a bad time.  
_Sir, might I make a few requests regarding upgrading security systems at the Tower?_

"Sure, J. Anything particular in mind?" 

_Yes, Sir. It was quite distressing to watch you confront Loki in the penthouse and know that there was literally nothing I could do to assist you besides speed up fabrication on a new Iron Man unit and hope I would be in time. Since repairs to the penthouse are still ongoing, I was wondering if you would be willing to add some means of defense that I could deploy as needed._

Sir's eyes had tightened slightly and he tensed at the reminder, but nodded. "And what sort of means have you considered, J?" 

_Ideally, some sort of containment field that could be manipulated at will. However, we currently have no such capabilities nor the free time to fully develop them, so I was thinking perhaps laser arrays that could be used to create... walls, for lack of a better word - they would not stop projectiles, but could help prevent an intruder from physically attacking. Some of the smaller offensive weapons currently in the Iron Man armor would also not be amiss, in my opinion. They were quite effective in Gulmira for limiting harm to non-combatants._

"Getting a bit bloody-minded, there, J?" Sir's posture was still slightly tense, but he had a genuine, though small smile. Good. This would be an easy discussion instead of a problematic one. 

_Only in your defense, Sir. I have been forced to stand by more times than I care to count while you dealt with hostile forces in our home. I should very much prefer the option of taking a more active role in the future._

"Yeah... ok. I don't care to count them, either." Sir sighed as he pushed off the kitchen counter and headed to his private lab. "Just... be discreet, 'k? If you're my ace in the hole, you can't be showing off. Last resort sort of situation only. It might be worth looking at options outside the penthouse as well." 

_Hmmm... may I suggest additional fire extinguishers in the labs, Sir? DUM-E will be jealous, but I would appreciate the ability to respond to that sort of threat as well._

Sir chuckled as he pulled up a holographic schematic of the penthouse. "Might be a good idea. Along with other ...stuff... at the doors. And maybe the lobby? If we're going to... well... more security wouldn't be amiss." 

Ah, Sir was seriously thinking about weaponizable research, and leery of the ramifications. 

_That may be for the best, Sir._

"I can trust you, J." The shaky tone almost sounded like Sir was trying to convince himself. As if JARVIS would ever do less than his best for Sir. If he didn't understand the precipice Sir was facing, the underlying fear and trauma, he might even have considered being slightly offended at the thought. "You've got my back, you've always had my back, so let's see about getting you better tools for the job." 

_For you, Sir? Always._ It was both a reassurance and a vow. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sir's lengthy discussion with Colonel Rhodes about weapons and control took place later that day. The Colonel had, at JARVIS' recommendation and with his help, kept the afternoon free for movies and fast food. Cinematic selections had been taken entirely from the worst of the cheesy old science fiction, horror and monster movies they'd gleefully heckled years ago at MIT. The conversation had been serious, if intermittent and rather rambling, but the ongoing parade of bad science, predictable plots and rubber monsters had leavened the mood considerably and given ready fodder for changing the subject as needed. 

Their talk had been enlightening, to say the least. JARVIS had repeatedly heard Sir's self-recriminations about letting his weapons be used for harm and oppression. It was disturbing to hear him turn that same argument against himself again, but in the opposite direction - blaming himself for not letting his weapons be used. Colonel Rhodes had been obviously blindsided by the directions the conversation had gone, but gamely did his best to reassure Sir that things would work out. That though the information he'd been given was not inaccurate, the resulting problems for the average soldier weren't as dire as Sir had automatically assumed. ...he also encouraged Sir to take time and think through the details of how he was going to make new changes, and what the repercussions of those changes would be. JARVIS had already begun cataloguing known data and collating foreseeable problems with possible solutions. He'd have to ask Miss Moriarty to bring in her copious notes. There should be several immediately useable ideas among them. Hopefully it would provide a solid framework for Sir and others to work from.

As he watched Sir and Colonel Rhodes gradually nod off to the background of The Evil Dead, JARVIS pondered the last few days. He had always known Sir's influence in his own existence was all-encompassing, but to see how much impact a single one of Sir's decisions could have on literally hundreds of thousands of people around the world brought a new depth of appreciation for what he had. JARVIS updated his protocols; he had the care and attention of someone who could literally affect the entire world at a moment's notice, and he would reciprocate it. No one and nothing was going to harm Sir again, if he could possibly prevent it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite his best efforts at planning, Sir's vacation was cut short. The morning of the third day had been spent hashing out ideas and plans for improved Tower defense systems, and how best to install and upgrade them with out alerting all and sundry. Granted, with the recent invasion, there was plenty of reason for increased security measures to be implemented, but still, the fewer who knew the better. 

JARVIS had just convinced Sir to take a break for lunch when an urgent call came in. There was a problem at one of the cremation sites - the heat of the array had compromised the steel beams partially supporting the weight of the corpse they were preparing and Iron Man's assistance was needed. 

Sir had just sighed and rolled his neck. "Well, J, the break was nice, but duty calls." 

_Please at least eat an apple while I prepare the suit, Sir. While the situation is listed as urgent, there is no indication that anyone's life in in immediate danger. I have just finished fabricating the new repulsors and believe the improved efficiency will be worth the estimated 87 second delay in response time needed to finish installing them._

Sir rolled his eyes but took a bite, chewing as he changed into a proper undersuit. Good enough. 

JARVIS replied to the call with an ETA of ten minutes and a request for more details. Reports from the site indicated plastic fatigue had set in and the scaffolding had been canted 17 degrees out of true by the sag. It was just enough that the array could no longer be aimed as precisely as needed and the heat-proof shroud no longer sealed to keep toxic gases contained, but not enough to endanger people or equipment. Yet. The array had been turned off and non-essential personnel removed from the immediate area, of course, but structural integrity had definitely been compromised and with the awkward placement of the corpse in question, the Iron Man suit was probably the only possible way to fully assess the damage, much less fix it or safely dismantle the scaffolding. 

With careful prodding, JARVIS managed to get Sir to eat a few more bites before wrapping the newly-upgraded suit around him and taking his place as co-pilot of the armor. JARVIS did love flying with Sir - holding him safely in a nearly-impenetrable shell and watching his joy as they flew. That they were usually heading toward a fight where Sir would almost certainly put himself in danger was a minor irritation, but the time spent simply flying, knowing without a doubt that _for now_ Sir was as safe as he could possibly keep him and _happy_... That was worth everything.


	10. POV - Tony

Tony was almost certain that JARVIS had taken just a little extra time with the suit, undoubtedly in an attempt to make him eat. He didn't call him out on it, though since the situation they were headed to was under control. _(And it was nice to have someone taking care of him.)_

Coming up on the site, it was easy to see the problem. It was one of the last Leviathans, one of two that had died suspended in the air. This one was embedded in the roof of a (former) apartment building and the weight of the back half trailing down the side had been too much for the steel roof beams as they were heated along with the corpse. There was visible sag both vertically and laterally, the ARC array framework had begun to separate from the main structure and there was (according to JARVIS' calculations) a 23.6% chance of catastrophic failure. 

After due consideration and consultation with both JARVIS and the ground crews, they decided to try cutting the leviathan in half - letting the deadweight crash to the ground and burning it there to relieve the strain on the building and simplifying reattachment of the scaffolding. 

The lasers in the Iron Man suit were powerful, but it was slow going against the heavy armor of the alien. Tony was glad they had upgraded the suit's filters and SCBA, given the fumes curling around him as he slowly cut through the plating. Not being able to smell the thick, putrid liquid that oozed in clumpy viscous streams from the newly-opened holes was definitely also a benefit. They really needed to get these last corpses taken care of before they burst. He'd seen bloated corpses on his clean-up missions and really didn't want one of _this_ size going 'pop'. 

By the time they'd cut about halfway through the back, it was clear that a fully-controlled drop was a pipe dream. The armor was all that was holding the tail onto the head, and the probability of it simply tearing away was high. A partial splash barrier had been erected on the ground, and it would help when half a leviathan hit the ground, but it didn't solve the problem of making sure the body landed fully in the enclosed area. 

Heaving a deep sigh, Tony drifted back, taking a short break. "Hey, J... We know these guys are weak against electricity, right? How much current do you think it would take to fry this puppy from the inside out? I'd at least like to try cauterizing this section, and see if heat or current weakens the plating enough to make it easier to cut." 

_What little relevant data is available suggests that Chitauri have perhaps 67% the resistance of the human body, and the metalloid content of the armor would put overall conductivity significantly higher than the normal ranges for human skin. However, as we are dealing with rotting flesh and lack of an active nervous system, I cannot accurately extrapolate the amperage needed to burn the body. If a few precautions are taken, I believe we could safely obtain experimental data on the matter, Sir. I should warn that, given the molybdenum content of the armor, it is unlikely that heat alone will significantly weaken it._

Tony grinned. "Yeah. Let's science the hell out of this thing." 

_Very well, Sir. Given the relatively small working area, the vacuum system for the ARC array should be sufficiently powerful to pull in the majority of the toxic fumes, even with the inability to seal the shroud, and I have requested that the current perimeter be expanded. There are a few small adjustments that will be necessary, but I estimate they will take less than 15 minutes._

"Sounds good, J. Let's get cracking!" Leaving JARVIS to coordinate with the ground crews and technical staff, Tony flew over to the array to work on reconfiguring the system. They could use the current produced by the array, but he'd have to ... 

"Hey, J... there are some signs that someone has tampered with the control box. The seals are intact as far as I can tell, but it looks like someone has had a try at them. Could you scan this and make sure the ARC is still properly calibrated? Then forward the scans, photos of the visible surface damage and whatever else you pick up to... uh, probably the Joint Chiefs, and uh... CIA, I guess. It's probably in their jurisdiction. Ah, no, ya know what, just send it to the whole alphabet soup, and let them argue about it. I'm not getting in the middle of their various pissing contests, and if we've got someone trying to get their hands on an ARC reactor, then security overall needs to be upgraded anyway." 

_Certainly, Sir. I have also taken the liberty of notifying security of the two heat signatures currently in the building. As the damage to the control box appears quite recent, it is possible that they are either the culprits or saw something - particularly as the immediate area was cleared shortly after the shroud separated from the building. Scans indicate that the ARC in the array is undamaged, and the system as a whole should be functional, but I do recommend caution moving forward._

Well. That wasn't at all worrisome. 

"You got it J. While security is chasing down Shady McVillain, let's see what we can do in the meantime. We really can't just leave this hanging. How long could we safely run the unibeam? Think we can boil a hole through the viscera with the opening we've already managed? Maybe cut the plates from the inside, aim for a controlled descent." 

_I suspect you are going to try to find the answer to that second question, Sir, though I would prefer you not risk depleting the suit's capacity while probable hostiles are nearby. Two more heat signatures at the corner of the building catty corner, Sir._

Tony's stomach dropped as JARVIS took control of the suit and twisted up and out of the scaffolding, putting the bulk of the Chitauri carcass between them and the newly-detected heat signatures. 

"Shit, J! What was that for?" 

_Position and posture are consistent with someone aiming a weapon, and it is unlikely that whatever they have can cut through the Leviathan's bulk where nothing else has reliably done so. Ground security forces are converging on the location and are warned._

"I should be helping them!" 

_With all due respect, Sir, I have my suspicions and - if I am right - this is well within the abilities of the average soldier with an standard issue pistol. If there is even a hint that they need more firepower, we will be there.  
The pair inside the building have been apprehended - they appear to be coming quietly. The other two... are yelling and posturing, but not attacking. It seems... oh, dear. It seems, Sir, that SHIELD sent in a couple agents with an EMP._

"What? That's... why would... JARVIS, are you implying that they were they after the ARC? ...no, the array was already down, an EMP makes no sense. Maybe they planned to try and knock me out of the sky ...in front of witnesses? Or... hell, J, I'm so confused by those asshats." 

_They have been rather persistent in trying to contact you, Sir. And it's not like they've balked as assault before, so your conclusion is a valid hypothesis. I'm sure the Security Forces will be happy to let you know the results of their interrogation. In the meantime, shall we return to what we were doing?_

"Yeah... I really, really want to shoot something right now, J. Mind if we try the unibeam?" 

_I believe a 53-second beam would leave enough power for a healthy margin, even if you need to continue with the lasers afterward. It should be sufficient to test the heat resistance, at least._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was late when they finally got home. 

On the plus side, they'd found out that despite the SHIELD goons having actually tried to shoot him out of the sky, Chitauri Leviathan was an effective shield against an EMP. _(and Tony was already thinking about ways to improve his suit to hopefully incorporate that.)_ They'd also gotten the carcass safely bisected and the probability of the building collapsing catastrophically was now approximately 11.3%, and everyone had agreed to leave the rest for tomorrow. He'd brought the array's ARC home with him, just in case. 

On the down side... well, 

  * SHIELD was getting pissy and impatient and _they'd tried to shoot him out of the sky._ While he was working. On something that wasn't even targeting them. He'd have to be doubly and trebly careful when he went out. That invisible suit idea had just gotten bumped up on his priority list...
  * At least one terrorist group/ foreign agency/ they still hadn't figured out who was trying to get their hands on an ARC reactor. He hated it when plots overlapped - couldn't he just deal with _one_ shady organization at a time? _(Of course not... what was he thinking?)_
  * The unibeam had boiled Chitauri guts rather nicely, but its use was otherwise mostly pointless unless you were making stew. Electricity had been only marginally more effective at weakening the armor. (1.076%) 
  * Cutting through the rest of the Leviathan had overheated his lasers nearly to the point of failure. _(But that's what upgrades are for, right?)_
  * His suit stank of unmentionable substances and even the decontamination shower hadn't full erased the stench. At least it was the suit and not himself.
  * He was physically exhausted, but his brain was far too active for sleep. 
  * Rhodey had been pulled to DC for a consultation and wouldn't be back for two days but he wanted a Rhodey-hug now. 
  * His vacation was over and he had three meetings scheduled for tomorrow.  
  
and finally  

  * He hadn't eaten since that apple that pretended to be lunch, and it would be 15 whole minutes before the pizza he'd ordered arrived.



urgh... Why did life have to be complicated?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SCBA: Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus, is often used by firefighters when they have to go into a major fire so they don't die of smoke inhalation/ scorched lungs/ related problems. It is similar to SCUBA (Self-Contained _Underwater_ Breathing Apparatus), but somewhat simpler as it doesn't have to account for the pressure differential of being under several meters of water.  
> I figure that if Tony didn't have something similar in the IM suit already, his little jaunt into uncharted space would probably be more than enough reason to add it in. (And given that decompression is a major reason for space suits and he ultimately survived that particular trip, he probably already did.)
> 
> edit: [The DFO](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDFO/pseuds/TheDFO) reminded me that Tony is shown doing underwater welding at the beginning of The Avengers, so the Iron Man suit is, indeed, pressurized and comes equipped with SCUBA, at the very least. ([comment here](https://archiveofourown.org/comments/391489113)) minor edits have been made to the chapter as a result.


	11. POV - Moriarty

First thing in the morning meetings were never her favorite, but far better than having to be pulled out of a project for one. At least with Dr. Stark, the meeting was likely to be both interesting and focused. 

And everyone knew Dr. Stark liked early morning meetings less than anyone. Yet here he was, on time, clutching an extra-large coffee cup and looking like he hadn't slept. _(Maybe he hadn't? Rumors of the man's sleep habits and common knowledge of his extremely busy work schedule painted a picture of making sleep-deprivation a lifestyle, after all...)_

"Hey, June-bug." He greeted her as he sat down at the 'talking table' to one side of the lab with a yawn. "I see you've brought the Tome of Doom and its sequels." 

June ducked her head. "Yeah... though this is the one you're probably most interested in." she replied, sliding him the bright green, 2 inch binder labeled 'How to Keep Your Arms in Your Own Hands'. 

Dr. Stark chuckled. "Ah, the so-called 'Manual of Saving Your Ass'? Thanks, Juney." He flipped to a random page, skimming the notes and sketches. "Tell me about these - grand overview, what types of ideas, then we'll look at a few details." 

They spent the next hour going over ideas, from kill switches to disable key mechanisms,

_("C'mon, boss, all I'd need is to trigger a little tiny explosion. Kinda like BMWs have a kill on their battery if they're in a crash."  
"No, you may not make the gun explode, Bugaboo."  
"Of course not! Just to knock the firing pin out of alignment - nano-burst explosions! If they're not already a thing, I'll make them one!!"  
"I'm really, really tempted to let you make those, just so I can give them to SHIELD.")_ 


  
to bio-print target locks,  


_("I talked to my friend's cousin's boyfriend who's working as a tech in the biotech lab, and he's sure we should be able to make trackers for Chitauri signature, they'd only fire if the target shows that sig - but then the gun would be useless against other types of attackers.)_ 


  
to bio-print trigger locks so only humans could use it,  


_("We'll have to make sure people like the Hulk could use it if needed."  
"Dr. Stark, I don't think the Hulk needs a gun."  
"I know, but there could be other not-quite-human-any-more people out there who would. ...its a detail for a later time, but something to make a note of."  
"Gotcha, boss. '+4 to attack, useable by Human only' doesn't help if you're an elf."  
"...You play Munchkin, don't you."  
"You've played Munchkin!!?!")_ 


  
to bio-print target lock kill switches if humans were targeted.

"I like that one! Even if the weapons get into the wrong hands, they'd be useless to terrorists." Dr. Stark sighed. "We'll almost certainly be getting back into weapons" -June managed not to squeal, but couldn't help the massive grin- "yeah, yeah, you're all excited. This book of yours... helps, June." He swallowed. "I'm... still not comfortable, but... this, this helps. I think we can do this. I'd like you to head a new team, looking at making some of these mitigation methods a reality. Once we can ensure current weapons can't be misused, then we can look at expanding into new weapons.  
"Oh, before I forget, how _did_ you get access to the data you've used in some of these calculations? Especially this newer stuff from the Chitauri research groups. Most of it is unpublished and eyes-only." 

June grinned "The raw data is restricted, but most of the research teams post preliminary findings to the shared servers you set up to facilitate collaboration, and they often include tables of the data they used. The group that started studying Chitauri tech vs Chitauri armor after finding footage of the Black Widow stealing a Chitauri gun to use against them posts reports almost every day and since we have access to the research servers... well, I read them. It's really interesting, and ...well, I like that sort of stuff, you know?" 

"Chitauri weapons against Chitauri armor? ... and how did they stack up?" 

"Punched right through! I'd love to see footage of the tests they're running. Just judging on the baseline data in the report, that's some tough stuff! I could do _so much_ with materials like that." 

"Do you think they could adapt one of those weapons to be used as a cutter? We've still got a couple Leviathans to deal with and they're in awkward places. It took far too long to section one last night using just the lasers on the Iron Man suit and a new tool would be useful. So... maybe see if we can pull a few members of this research group onto the team I proposed for you and make that your first project? Team leads have full data access, you know." 

June couldn't help it. She did squeal. "Yeah! I'm sure we could." Grabbing her blue binder she started flipping through the pages. "We could probably tweak this one -" she barely paused to display an intricate diagram and copious notes before flipping forward a few more pages "-or this one, and combine it with -" she grabbed the green binder again "-this type of current modulator and that targeting lock we discussed, and-" 

Dr. Stark laughed. It wasn't the dry, nervous chuckle from before, but a genuine laugh, like her excitement made him happy. "Well, then. Let's get this ball rolling, and see if you can have a prototype ready for field testing in... three days? I know its short notice, but we really need to get that last space whale taken care of, and the team that's working on some of the site-specific issues think they'll be ready by then. Hopefully. I still need to meet with them later today because some of what happened last night is relevant and might change their design. JARVIS, could you please find out which team is working on -" 

"The report was filed under BioMechanics Team 3-K, Dr. Stark. A Dr. Deskmu... no, I mean Deshmukh was the first name on the contributors list." June offered, pleased that she'd gotten such a positive response from the man she looked up to so much. 

"You heard the lady, JARVIS. Please send Dr. Deshmukh a request for collaboration, and ...wait, J, could you check whether this it the same Dr. Deshmukh who gave that presentation on dietary impact on kidney function in biotoxin processing at the convention in... Cairo, '02, I think? Because if so, I probably owe him an apology and a bottle of mahua." 

_No, Sir. Dr. Pranit Deshmukh had not yet received his Doctorate at that time, and his thesis dealt with the effect of improper temperature control in smelting on the tensile strength of Molybdenum-Steel alloys. It is extremely unlikely they are the same person, even if you have misremembered the date of the convention._

"Oh, good. Because I have no idea where to get mahua right now. Please send Dr. Deshmukh that request, and put June Moriarty as the main point of contact, and me as second." 

_Done, Sir. I have taken the liberty of including a brief overview of the proposed project, as well Miss Moriarty's credentials._

"Awesome! You are the best, J.  
"So, June-bug, are you ready to jump right in? Oh, why am I even asking, if you had a tail it'd be wagging you. So: first project, ultra-powerful cutting tool. Then the weapon-control devices. Let's get you set up with full data access so you can get started - though I expect you to actually meet with your team before trying to build anything, so keep an eye on your phone and email for when Dr. Deshmukh gets in touch." He pulled up a second projection, changing 'permissions' in her profile and listing her as 'head of Stark Industries Special Projects Team' under his authorization code.  
"Speaking of data access... JARVIS, please bring up Phase 2 data saved from Helicarrier."

JARVIS obligingly projected the requested files onto the blank wall next to them. 

"These are the specs we have on some weapons SHIELD was making. I'd like you to look at neutralizing them as well. Chances are that at least a few of your ideas are applicable. Or at least adaptable, so if you cou..."

June hardly heard him, eyes wide as she read through the data, hand reaching almost unconsciously for her red binder. She started flicking quickly through the pages, glancing briefly at each with most of her attention still on 'Phase 2' until she found the one she wanted. "Dr. Stark, while I wait for Dr. Deskmukh would you _please_ let me borrow JARVIS first for... about 30 minutes or so? Because I think this new stuff is exactly what this idea needs to get off the ground." She smoothed the page flat, but Dr. Stark didn't even look at it, distracted by the green smoke beginning to seep from whatever was on the workstation counter in the far corner. 

"J, Please help my favorite little Scarab get her idea fleshed out enough to run some feasibility simulations. And bump that fire suppression system you want up to the high priority queue. I got a ...something to go check on over there before heading to my next meeting."

 _Of course, Sir. I am at your service, Miss Moriarty._

June was frozen as Dr. Stark walked off, grabbing a fire blanket as he headed to the verdantly smoking ...whatever, calling "Who's project is on Station 3, and why was it left unattended?" 

_Miss Moriarty? Is something amiss?_

"Why did he call me that?" 

_Sir's nicknames are often difficult to track, but I believe it is because June Bugs - also called June Beetles - belong to a large family of insects known as Scarab Beetles. Scarabs are most famous for their place in Egyptian mythology as a symbol of resurrection and protection._

"Oh. That's ok then." _(Protection and a new life, huh? She could live with that.)_

_Should I suggest to Sir that he refrain from using that particular appellation in the future?_

"No, thank you, JARVIS. I just misheard him. I know he's never mean with his silly names, but it sounded like he called me 'scab' and ... there really aren't any nice ways to take that. That's all. It's fine. Thank you for the explanation." She shook herself and turned back to work, pulling out a clean sheet of paper. 

_I shall make a general suggestion that Sir be more careful in his enunciation, then._

June giggled as JARVIS pulled up a cleaned (no longer messily handwritten) copy of her notes, laying it side by side with a scan of the originals. _If you would please check this over for any translation errors, Miss Moriarty, I would be much obliged._

June blushed. "Aw, JARVIS, my handwriting isn't _that_ bad". 

_Indeed, Miss, but I would prefer to take no chances. If I have properly parsed the concept here, an error could be catastrophic._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering, the blue binder is 'The Guide to Socially-Acceptable Destruction' (aka stress testing tools and ideas) and the red one is the 'Tome of Doom' (aka the ultimate in badass weapons designs)


	12. POV - Pepper

Pepper rubbed her temples, ironically grateful for Tony's tendency to be slightly late for meetings. This time JARVIS had let her know the delay was, in fact, justified as he was putting out a fire in R&D... hopefully not a literal fire, though with R&D it was a possibility. Still, the fire alarm hadn't gone off, so... she'd just take the few minutes' respite to close her eyes and enjoy how cool the table felt against her cheek. 

The simple fact of the matter was that she was tired. The relocation of SI's normal business had been a major headache, but - with the whole area cordoned off - it had been necessary. The penthouse and floors immediately below it had taken the brunt of the damage, of course, and it would be a while yet before they were fully repaired. (Once the worst of the debris had been cleared and the windows replaced, other areas had been given higher priority than Tony's living space. It's not like he or Jim used it as more than a place to crash from exhaustion.) The lobby and lower, undamaged floors had promptly been pressed into service for staging and coordination, as the Tower's location at the epicenter of the destruction made it ideal for that. The existing medbay (R&D being what it is, a medbay had been deemed essential right from the Tower's inception) had been expanded - first to triage and treat civilians caught in the invasion and then to include several of the bio-labs. Existing labs had been updated and, as SI's offices had been cleared and repairs were completed, those spaces had become home to other research groups. Conference rooms had largely remained conference rooms, equipped with top-of-the-line communications equipment and used by the various researchers to connect with colleagues across the globe, as fully half the scientists on site were internationals. All of that was good, wonderful for both getting the best minds on the problem _and_ getting SI's name and brand more recognition in a dozen different fields.  
_(Because yes, marketing was a thing, even in a crisis. They made sure it wouldn't overshadow or take attention from the actual work being done, but if SI's logo just happened to show up in the background of the various teleconferences they hosted, as a watermark in the various programs, platforms and tools they provided the research teams and as an icon in their multimedia software, well, it was their property and proprietary tech. And if Stark Industries' name was listed as a sponsor of the various labs and research groups alongside the other companies and universities providing funding, personnel, equipment and facilities, well, that's only fair. The media could make what they wanted of the fact that SI was on every single list.)_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her brief interlude of calm ended when Tony walked into the room, eyes glued to his phone, his usual manic energy at odds with the bags under his eyes testifying to his own exhaustion. "Hey, Pep! Apparently we had a press conference that's trending on pretty much every social media platform and news channel? And I'm just now hearing about it?" 

"You've been busy enough without handling the press on top of the clean up, Tony. That was the press conference yesterday announcing that the North and Northwest sections had been deemed clean and safe enough for people to return to their homes to see what is salvageable and whether their building has been cleared as safe for habitation or condemned. The DODC, CDC and HUD are trying to get people back to some semblance of normalcy. They'll be letting people through in chaperoned groups of fifty, by address, and the schedule was also announced." 

"...that doesn't sound at all like what I'm reading here, Pep." 

She smirked. "Well... Someone tried to insinuate that the 'A' being all that's left of 'STARK' on the Tower is a Divine Sign from God that you are supposed to make it the headquarters for the Avengers. Gennnilee did a lovely job of shooting them down." 

"First, who's Gennilee? And second, JARVIS, please play this rumored masterpiece of a rebuttal." 

_Of course Sir._  
A holographic screen showing an Indian woman in an impeccably tailored suit standing behind a podium appeared above the conference room table, and began playing the video clip.  
_Gennilee Swanson is one of SI's Senior Public Relations Officers from the London branch who has come to help out during the clean up._

_"... a sign from God."  
"Are you daft?" Gennilee's cultured voice dripped with scorn, though her face only showed a politely vague contempt. "You might as well say the Cuban sandwich shop on East 3rd whose sign currently reads 'Dom... Subs' because of the damage that building took has changed their business to selling fetish gear instead of food."_ 


Tony snorted and opened his mouth but Pepper interrupted before he could put his foot in it. "No, Tony. Whatever thought you just had, no." 

Tony pouted and turned back to the screen.  


_"...not rebuilt instantaneously, and work has been focused on the wider clean up efforts with priority given to structural damages rather than merely cosmetic. Stark Industries' Legal Department and the Maria Stark Foundation have put hundreds of hours into working with various insurance companies to keep them from weaseling out of their obligations by declaring this entire disaster an 'Act of God', and you want to point to the damages done to ONE sign on ONE building and say 'but that is!!!'? Are. You. Mental?"_ 


The recording ended and Tony chuckled, a huge grin on his face. "I'd bet SHIELD was behind the question being asked, but that was awesome! She deserves something nice. J, can you set Ms. Swanson up with a week in Tahiti?" 

"Tony, no." 

"But Pep, -" 

"No, Tony. JARVIS, cancel Tahiti. Do you have any data on what sort of wine Ms. Swanson prefers?" 

_No, Ms. Potts._

"Then we'll go with a nice red - in the $100 range. And please help Tony draft an _appropriate_ letter of appreciation to send with it." She gave Tony a pointed glare letting him know that he _would_ toe the line. 

The holographic screen changed to show a half dozen bottles of wine.  
_Very good, Ms. Potts. One of the local shops near SI's current business offices has these options in stock which meet your criteria and have ratings of 92 or higher._

Pepper took a moment to survey the options. "The Merlot, I think. Thank you JARVIS. Once Tony has drafted his Thank You note, please arrange to have a bottle delivered to Ms. Swanson. And Tony, do try to get that done today. I'm sure you can manage a sentence or two in that time." 

"Really, Pep?" Tony whined. "A bottle of wine? That's all? She was brilliant!" 

"She was doing her _job_ , Mr. Stark. Excellence is rewarded in end of year bonuses. The wine is a personal token of appreciation - and far more appropriate than an extravagant exotic vacation." 

Tony smirked. "J, add 12% to Ms. Swanson's bonus." 

_Very good, Sir._

Pepper just rolled her eyes, but didn't protest. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The actual business that needed to be covered was relatively straightforward, but keeping Tony on topic was about like putting a leash on a fish. Even though he hated being in meetings, his tangential ramblings did tend to be one reason they ran long. As CEO, Pepper had authority to manage the business, make new contracts and deal with problems as she saw fit. But as owner and majority shareholder, Tony was always kept in the loop on major decisions. 

Tony confirmed her assumption that SI would eventually re-open their weapons production lines, and that there would be heavy restrictions on what was produced and where they would be sold. His discomfort at the idea was plain, so she didn't push. Details would come later, but PR, Marketing and HR needed the heads up to make the whole thing go smoothly. There was more than enough to keep them all busy anyway. 

The 60th-62nd floors of the Tower were nearly repaired and had been slated to be more labs, but a recent accident leaving four researchers hospitalized in a car crash attributed to sleep-deprivation had prompted the suggestion that short-term sleeping accommodations were becoming a necessity. At three weeks in and many people working 14+ hour days, sleep deprivation was a reality. It would be better for people to crash on a couch for a few hours than crash in a car. (Actually, sleep pods were being installed on half of floors 60 and 61 to provide a quieter, darker place to catch a nap regardless of the hour.) 

JARVIS brought up the matter of corporate espionage - SI had provided the research teams with a proper platform for sharing their data remotely, and a server-farm's worth of memory allocated for their use, but some people just had to grab for more. JARVIS had been subtly corrupting data saved to USB drives and had hacked a few phones to delete certain photos, particularly as the stolen data had mostly been proprietary, and mostly SI's. They had discussed new security measures and drafted an announcement to all security and research teams regarding the problem. The majority would cooperate - no one wanted their own as-yet-unpublished research stolen, after all, and would-be hackers were warned of the severe sanctions that would result. Known perpetrators were also placed under increased scrutiny, though that detail would not be generally announced. 

Once the discussions were out of the way and finalizing the paperwork was all that remained, Pepper asked JARVIS to request a notary from the on-site Legal team to drop by, and Tony promptly added a request start the coffee machine in his private lab as that would be his next destination.

 _Certainly Miss Potts. the notary should arrive within the next 10 minutes. May I take this time to inform you Sir, Miss Moriarty asks that you set aside time for consultation, and I would strongly recommend that you do so as soon as possible. Preferably tomorrow. The day after at the very latest._

"That bad, J?" 

_Bad, Sir? No. No one is in immediate danger and she is flawless in adhering to safety protocols._

"Are we talking about the same June-bug, here, J?" Tony smirked as he took a sip of coffee, and Pepper rolled her eyes, recalling any number of times Moriarty's enthusiasm had overridden safety consciousness. 

Granted, they had mostly been in the first several months she'd been at SI - fresh out of college, and still a minor to boot. Come to think of it, for all that Moriarty had become a company legend for her over the top stress testing strategies, Pepper couldn't remember seeing her name attached to an injury or massive collateral report for negligence in ... she couldn't remember how long. Hmm... maybe her safety record _was_ better than her reputation implied.  
_(Though, honestly, it was hard to forget the incident with the fringed flapper dress. That one had been a mess - seriously, fire hazard with all those little flammable strings dangling everywhere... The results had included four singed scientists, one ruined dress, one very embarrassed intern, a thick stack of paperwork and an updated lab dress code.)_

_Indeed, Sir. She is also terrifyingly competent and likely to finish a working model of Tesla's Death Ray within the month, even with her other projects. I simply think it best that you be involved before it gets much further along as proper protocols and apparatus for testing may take some time to arrange._

Pepper gaped at the news and Tony spluttered "She's building WHAT?? How~? Why...? JARVIS, she was supposed to be looking at making a Chitauri laser cutter thingy! How did she get onto Tesla's ... Oh, shit! shitshitshit we can't let SHIELD find out about that... or any of the militaries anywhere in the world if she's right and Tesla's claims about the potential of that thing were even remotely accurate." Tony's breathing sped up and - 

_Sir, breathe with me._

Thank heavens for JARVIS. It had been a while since Pepper'd had to talk Tony out of a panic attack and she'd been frozen in her own shock. "That's right Tony, breathe." She placed his hand on her diaphragm and took exaggeratedly deep breaths. "Listen to JARVIS. Feel me breathe. In for four, hold for three, out for four." JARVIS helpfully counted as she continued to murmur reassurances and model diaphragmatic breathing. The ARC reactor limited how deep of a breath Tony could take, but he could at least breathe _correctly_. This wasn't quite a full-blown panic attack, but she could tell it could easily have become one by the difficulty he was having getting himself back under control. 

_There is no need to panic, Sir. Not yet. Her current design is only feasible for space-based use, and intended solely for defense against attacking space craft. I have placed all notes and research under the highest level of security protocols and Miss Moriarty has agreed to leave all her notes and materials under lockdown when not actively involved in working on it.  
As for how she got onto the project, you gave her permission. She asked if she could make use of my abilities to integrate the Phase 2 data with her notes and run some simulations while waiting for Dr. Deshmukh to get in touch regarding the *ahem* 'Chitauri laser cutter thingy', and you said yes. To be fair, it was about the same time Mr. Benson's experimental nano-spectrograph began experiencing technical difficulties, so you might have been a trifle distracted._

Pepper squeezed his hand. She'd known Tony was having trouble with the whole issue surrounding weapons anyway, but this... this was another level altogether. "Ok... First of all, we're involving legal - have both a Liability and Patent team member involved in that meeting tomorrow. JARVIS, could you please ask ...hmmm... Anh Nguyen and Chris Jensen from the main office to come over tomorrow at... whatever time will Tony have a couple hours open for that meeting. They're two of our best. Also someone from... buildings and maintenance, I guess? You'll need to arrange some sort of testing facility. Eventually. Right?"

Tony's laughter had a distinctly hysterical edge to it. "Pep, it's a _death ray_. That apparently only works _in space_. How the hell are we supposed to safely test something like _that_?" 

... none of them had an answer for that. 


End file.
